ike was large and pale and bald and listless looking , and mr eggwhistle found him sitting on “his” bench on the outskirts of the grounds, with his hands on his knees, staring into space.
the director had explained to mr eggwhistle that ike was mild mannered and harmless, but because of his size the other inmates felt intimidated by him and never challenged his right to “his “ seat. also, that ike was not much of a talker, but a patient listener, and the one of the inmates he had listened to was johnny.
ike seemed to come to life a little when mr eggwhistle showed him the picture of johnny.
“do i remember johnny? sure, how could i forget him?”
“i understand he was a preacher,” mr eggwhistle said.
“a preacher?” ike shook his head slightly. “i think calling him a prophet might be closer to the mark.”
“really?” there was a wicker chair beside ike’s seat and mr eggwhistle sat down in it. “what exactly did he prophecy?”
for answer, ike reached into his pocket and took out a pamphlet , about the same size as the one zeke had given mr eggwhistle.
mr eggwhistle looked at the pamphlet. it was entitled the gospel of johnny dark, according to ike.
“thank you,” mr eggwhistle said, watching ike closely for his reaction. “ i received a similar screed from zeke. may i ask, is this basically the same, or is it different?”
“it is both ,” ike replied placidly. “ it is the same and different. johnny had many messages , but they are all the same.”
mr eggwhistle smiled. “i will be happy to read it, as i read zeke’s. but do you mind if i ask you a few questions first?”
“not at all. fire away.”
“did he ever mention an individual named packy?“
ike laughed. “did he ever mention packy? yes, all the time. there were days he hardly talked about anything or anybody else.”
this was very different from what mr eggwhistlre had heard from zeke, but he did not say so. instead he asked,
“was johnny kindly disposed toward this packy?”
“i should say not!” ike exclaimed. “packy was the evil spirit, and johnny dedicated his life to fighting him.”
“i see. and packy, does he live in some particular place? like chicago, or st louis, or new york, or paris france?”
“packy is everywhere. everywhere the truth is denied, which is everywhere.”
“do you don’t think johnny went in search of packy, in some particular place?”
“no, why would he do that?” ike pointed at the pamphlet in mr eggwhistle’s hand. “read that, it will tell you all about packy.”
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